Moving on...

I have a new blog!

Lauren's thoughts have moved to: "from the perspective"

All my old posts will stay here, some of the goodies will move over but I wanted to give my thoughts a new perspective.

I hope you enjoy!

An Order for Compline

There is something about sleeping bags on a cathedral floor that makes me uneasy. Do I think it is disrespectful to be prostrate with a cushy comfort between you and a church floor? Or is the uncomfortable feeling due to the fact that strangers are more comfortable in this house than me? No matter the source of discomfort, we all come and place ourselves on a cold cement floor, opening our ears to the potential homecoming anthem. I wonder how many hours I have spent on this floor, in this spot. How much time has been spent opening and then closing my desire to listen. I try to be still- to stop and be present. I work on letting myself rest in the same unorthodox way as everyone else, prostrate on this floor.

Comfort collides with my traditional thought that there is an order to the maturity of my soul. The 14 year old that sat on this same floor is in many ways the same as this 25 year old that sits today. Always looking up at the beautiful glass walls, doors and cross- always praying in an awestruck tone. Always wishing I was on my knees rather than sitting on my ass.

landscapes

I wonder if life is just one long road trip. You can take in the landscape, let it go by in one continuous motion and hope the light, beauty and essence soaks into the deep pores of your being. But there is something in me that requires me to capture life- either through words, pictures or conversations. It is the act of capturing that breaks up the panoramic landscape and requires context for the picture before and after. An event is remembered by knowing who you were before and after. What happens in the middle frame simply becomes the transition point, anchoring the context of life.

There are moments where I allow myself to roll down the window, stick my feet out into the breeze and let the world fly by. But I have never regretted taking out my camera, my soul or desire to know and be known in order to freeze the moments that make everything before and after coherent.